Identity thieves have targeted several of the people who perished in the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, last month, WSVN reported.
Sergio Lozano, the son of Gladys and Antonio Lozano, who were killed in the collapse, told the network that thieves began stealing from his parents' bank account and opening credit cards in their names on the day of their funeral.
A hacker filled out a form to change the address on their bank account, opened online banking which they had never used, and began to withdraw money from the account.
“I find it totally devastating, after losing my parents, that I have to deal with all the estate issues, and now I’m having to deal with somebody stealing from my parents,” Lozano said. “After they’re dead and buried, they’re stealing from them?”
Surfside mayor Charles Burkett said there have been other cases of identity theft against victims of the collapse.
“It’s the revictimization of the victims that we’re sort of starting to experience right now with these hackers,” Burkett told NBC news. “They’ve seen the names in the paper, they’re going right to that and we’ve had to have discussions with the families and listen to them telling us the stories about all of a sudden credit cards appearing in their names and things being purchased in their name, so we’ve told ‘em, you’ve got to immediately shut down your credit.”
The current death toll from the collapse currently stands at 97.